Sapelo Island

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Location of Sapelo Island, Georgia

Sapelo Island is a state-protected island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is only reachable by boat, with the primary ferry coming from Darien, Georgia, a 17 mile, 20-minute trip.^[1]

1 The island
2 Hog Hammock
3 History
4 External links and references

[edit] The island

Sapelo Island map

Over 99% of the island is owned by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; the remaining residents own only 434 of the island's 16,500 acres.^[1] The site, known as Sapelo Island Reserve and Reynolds Mansion, includes the island and the 13 miles of marsh surrounding the island. Non-workers visiting the island must be a part of an organized tour or guests of residents on the island.^[1] The University of Georgia Marine Institute has a permanent research station on the island, with residential facilities for the faculty and staff. There are two places for visitors to stay on the island. One is a primitive camping site on Carbetta Island, which is a small island connected to Sapelo. The camp site is very popular, and it is booked full for over three years at the time of this writing (2005). The second place to stay is the Reynolds Mansion, see the history section below.

[edit] Hog Hammock

The village of Hog Hammock includes a general store, bar, and other small businesses. There are two active churches in the town. Most inhabitants of the town are African Americans, part of the Gullah or Geechee community, and have been living on the island for generations. The villagers must bring over all supplies from the mainland or purchase them in the small store on the island. The children of Hog Hammock take the ferry to the mainland and take a bus to school, as its own school closed in 1978.^[1]

[edit] History

During the 17th century Sapelo Island was part of the Guale missionary province of Spanish Florida. In the early 1800's Thomas Spalding, a future Georgia Senator and U.S. Representative, bought the island and developed it into a plantation, selling live oak for shipbuilding, introduced irrigation ditches, and cultivated Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought 400 slaves to the island from West Africa and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Reynolds Mansion.^[1]

Spalding opposed the abolishment of slavery, dying in 1851 on his way back from a convention to assert Georgia's position on the matter. When freed, the former slaves established several settlements on the island, the last remaining is Hog Hammock with approximately 70 remaining land owners.^[1] During the Civil War, the Spalding home was vandalized heavily and lay in ruins.

By the early twentieth century the International Road Races were attracting notables from the motor world to Savannah. One attendee was Howard E. Coffin, founder of the Hudson Motor Company in Detroit. Coffin purchased all of the island, save for the land owned by the former slaves. for $150,000 in 1912.^[1] Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. The Coffins also renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise unsurpassed on the coast. Former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover as well as aviator Charles Lindbergh were guests in the home.^[1] Richard Joshua Reynolds, Jr., of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, bought Sapelo during the Great Depression in 1933 and continued the tradition of agricultural experimentation of the previous owners. The Reynolds used the island as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the islands' African-American residents into Hog Hammock and establishing the basis for the university research facilities.^[1] In 1965, Reynold's widow sold their stake to the state of Georgia and the mansion takes its name from its final private owner.